Google CEO Eric Schmidt did one of his patented throat-clearers in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal today and it pretty much begs for translation. Well, BoomTown shall not tarry from the task of decoding the extra-long rumination from the head of Google, who was responding to the recent spate of aggressive attacks by traditional media publishers. They have blamed the search giant for everything from their current business woes to the destruction of journalism to Tiger Woods's dicey marital troubles. Okay, not that! But the rest for sure.

Indie rockers Nataly Dawn and Jack Conte are pioneers in the new VideoSong movement, soon to hit a computer near you. The Stanford University graduates in the summer of 2008 formed the band Pomplamoose, recording high-energy video covers of popular tunes like Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” and Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”

Remember when Michael Jackson was one of the biggest things on the Web? So 10 days ago. Cable TV and gossip magazines are still cranking out as much Jackson stuff as they can, but Web video viewers have moved on.

Earlier this week, BoomTown pointed out how Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers was captured doing duck calls on the Flip digital video camera, made by the start-up his company bought in March for $590 million. That was an adorable use of the consumer electronic device. But in the not-so-cute department, I submit this photo at right. Sitting next to her boss, Barbara Walters, an ABC producer used it to ghoulishly take shots of the kids of pop legend Michael Jackson memorial service on Monday.

On the spur of the moment yesterday--as Los Angeles was gridlocked by the memorial service for pop legend Michael Jackson--BoomTown decided to pay a quick visit to Harvey Levin, who runs TMZ. Located on Sunset Boulevard--natch!--TMZ is the celebrity news Web site that actually broke the news of Jackson's death, before any other media outlet. And it has pretty much led the coverage as the sad story has unfolded--and keeps doing so.

Depending on your perspective, this is either interesting news or heartening news: Michael Jackson's funeral and memorial were indeed a giant Internet event. But they don't seem to have been as big as Michael Jackson's death, and they weren't as big as Barack Obama's inauguration. So, let's call them the third-biggest Web event of the year. To date.